The present invention is directed generally to a tool for providing a multidimensional indication of the pain being experienced by a person, and more particularly to a handheld tool having indicators thereon which may be adjusted by a person to provide a reliable and physical indication of the type and intensity of pain being experienced by a person.
When a person in need of medical treatment first contacts a doctor or a nurse, the person generally attempts to verbally describe his or her pain so that the medical personnel can make at least an initial diagnosis of the patient's condition and plan the appropriate treatment. This presents a significant problem for medical personnel, however, due to the fact that different people experience and, therefore, describe their pain or symptoms in different ways. One person may be stronger than another. A third person may have become accustomed to the ache after a period of time and, therefore, may describe the ache with milder words than he would have used if the ache had recently occurred. The changing expressions for pain which a diagnostician may hear complicates the quick and definite diagnosis of a person's illness or injury.
Devices for measuring pain have previously been proposed, such as that disclosed in United Kingdom Patent Application GB 2 049 431 A, which provides a sliding scale displaying a straight line with "no pain" indicated at one end and "intense pain" indicated at the other end of the line and an indicator slidable on the scale by a person to the position which corresponds proportionately to the pain felt by the person. But this device suffers from the same shortcoming as verbal communication in that it measures pain in only one dimension and based on the person's own very subjective assessment of what he feels.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple device for providing a reliable assessment of the pain experienced by a person so that an accurate diagnosis may be made and early treatment begun.
A primary object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a simple yet effective instrument for providing a reliable multidimensional indication of the pain being experienced by a person.
Another object is to provide such an instrument which is readily adjusted by a person to record the pain experienced by him or her at that time.
Another object is to provide such a device which provides physical indicators of the pain experienced by a person so that its use does not require the assistance of another person to separately record the information and so that the indicated pain reading is preserved until the instrument is altered, reset or reused.
Another object is to provide such a device which affords the patient a visual indication of relative degrees of pain, yet simultaneously affords medical personnel or the person a definite quantitative measurement of the level of pain indicated by the person.
Another object is to provide such an instrument which is simple and rugged in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and efficient in operation.